Disappointed With My Stihl

You are lucky you weren't hurt, that is FUBAR.

I wonder if you could add a second stud and use an MS250 sprocket cover...

I have two stihl saws..290 and 441c..love em both...but this is the kinda crap we have to deal with from big corps...yea its under warranty...but that cover coming off WOT could have been really ugly..glad u wernt hurt..

I had the same thing happen to a 250 I bought last year. Fortunately I had been using a 310 for years and was nothing but thrilled with that saw, so I was already a big stihl fan. I took the 250 back to the dealer and exchanged it for full credit toward a 261. Yeah, it was a bit disappointing that the 250 was so cheaply made and more cash out of pocket, but if the 261 was a woman, I'd leave my wife ;-)

goofa said:

Not much better with a proffesional Grade ms460 melted piston 12 months later with approx 20 hrs on it. Sadly disappointed.

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Did you find out what caused the meltdown?

Jon1270 said:

I just checked the parts list and the 250 has the same sort of threaded-in stud, but it has 2 of them so each is under less stress.

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I have a 250, purchased about 18 months ago. It has only 1 threaded stud and 1 unthreaded guide "stud", that's about an 1/8" long.

I love my little 250 with EZ start. I cut stacks of thick oak slab wood and it has plenty of power. Not too heavy and it's user friendly, but now every time I use it I'll be thinking of what happened to Johnpma.

At some dealers (maybe all?), if you purchase a 6-pak of oil with saw, they add an extra year on the warranty. Something to remember.

There is a blight in my area killing ash trees. When I bought my house, there were about a dozen dean and several more dying ash trees on my property. I bought a Husqvarna 350 at my local hardware store and spent nearly an an entire summer removing the dead and dying trees. The saw worked like a champ.

My brother burns wood and he was more than happy to come haul it all away.

I bought a 251 a couple months ago, I have about 3 cords on it now.

I'm kind of a novice, but when I saw the plastic cover arrangement, I asked the dealer how tight to tighten the nut, and they showed me by hand feel, which wasn't nearly as tight as I would normally crank on metal, or would have guessed has been enough to hold the bar in place and the cover on. So I'm curious if you've been torquing pretty heavy on the nut (which I would have too), or if you were told to be lighter on it as I'm trying to be?

Either way, it's disappointing, I'm just hoping I'll be luckier...

salecker said:

Did you find out what caused the meltdown?

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improper lubrication haha likely excuse because they can blame it on the consumer...... goes something like this... well i wasnt there when you mixed the gas so how do i know you put the proper amount of oil in.... psss Im not too thrilled to say the least

goofa said:

improper lubrication haha likely excuse because they can blame it on the consumer...... goes something like this... well i wasnt there when you mixed the gas so how do i know you put the proper amount of oil in.... psss Im not too thrilled to say the least

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That sucks
Time to find a better dealer.

Yeah my thoughts exactly. wouldn't expect it from a small town local dealer who you have known him and his family all my life and my father grew up with him. time to use a different dealer is correct. And I need to write stihl a nastygram

You would like to think they would have taken a fuel sample to verify the oil mix ratio/fuel quality. Hopefully both cases get rectified by Stihl or the local/alternate dealer. Good Luck!!

The dealer did dump my fuel into a container side by side with his shop fuel and said mine looked weak. Because it was not the same blue as his. But I use a stihl HP ultra oil and it is green not blue.

Was going to ask if you were sure it was a real Stihl and not one of the Chinese knockoffs running around. But since you called Stihl and they are 'aware of the issue', I guess that points back to a true Stihl. Based on this and the way people seem to report Stihl's melt down at practically the first vapors of fuel with a bit of alcohol in it, I think I'll stick with my old Husky and let it keep thrashing through chunks of hedge.

No company is perfect, generally the quality of the Company can be best judged by how it reacts when a customer has a legitimate issue that needs to be resolved.

Someone at Stihl had a cost save idea to eliminate the 2nd stud on this particular home owner level saw (after all homeowners don't use them that much - right). The cost save was minimal per saw but when the company is making thousands of them, they land a significant profit. When these kinds of decisions are made, the company most likely does not consult their safety team, they don't consult legal.

The value added value engineering (VA/VE) team has to find ways to reduce costs (Cheapen) the product.

Once these "value engineered" changes are implemented they are nearly impossible to reverse. The cost saves won't be given up.

Sadly this is how product changes are implemented in business today.

I don't own a Stihl saw, and likely won't. I Have been on the sidelines watching this happen at a large US based tier I auto supplier, It is simply ridiculous.

My suggestion - Caveat Emptor (buyer beware) and write a letter to stihl explaining how and why they have lost a costomer. Oh and buy a saw from a company like Dolmar or Johnsered preferably a professional level saw.

Check all new saws to make sure there are two adjustment bolts. This seems like something that we should not have to consider, but you see the outcome in the photos.

If the single stud were actually mounted in something metallic, this would likely not be an issue, at least not for a much longer time.

Single stud mounted in plastic, in the part of the saw that will be subject to continuous adjustment by the consumer - what are they thinking? Rhetorical question - obviously they were not thinking.

If you purchased this saw from a local dealer, he should make it right by moving you into a new saw with full credit for what you paid for the junk.

If the local dealer won't do that then he is not your friend, and not someone you want to support and continue to do business with. I would state it just in that way to the dealer.

If the dealer refuses to sell that model because of the defect, and more dealers do so as well, eventually the model will be replaced by one that is properly engineered.

The installation of the larger stud is simply an attempt to make the saw operable until it is out of the warrantee period. Then you are screwed (no pun intended).

I would say they needed to replace the housing the studs are in. I'll look at the parts break down and see if I can get the part # for you.

johnpma said:

Update:
Stihl-"Thank you for the purchase and use of a STIHL MS 251 Chain Saw. I am sorry to hear of the bar stud issue you are having, STIHL has a 7 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, it is only during that time that you qualify for a refund or exchange on your saw. STIHL has used a polymer housing for years over a range of saws and STIHL is not having a bar stud issue. With a purchase date of 12/13/2013 your saw is still under warranty and can be repaired at any STIHL Dealer. If the dealer has any questions have them contact the Northeast STIHL Technical Service Department"

Where is the emoticon for the "international hand signal" (middle finger) Done with Stihl

The fix is to put an oversize stud in the pulled out hole!! Great so what in 6months I can do this all over again!!??? And then what when the year is up and it's out of warranty I can begin to pay to fix this POS saw No thanks!! I really thought they were a better company than this

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I'm speechless........it seems that Stihl is going the same route as GM....cheap cheap cheap

I never cared for the one stud bar mounting on any saw, it's just super light duty. The McCulloh Eagar Beaver comes to mind. I think people tend to really crank down on a one bolt bar, more than a two bolt setup. I bought my first Stihl new in 1972, I was using it two days ago. I have an 028 & 200T too. I also bought a new MS660 a year ago, nothing cheap about that saw. Stihl is all I would buy.

bobdog2o02 said:

I would say they needed to replace the housing the studs are in. I'll look at the parts break down and see if I can get the part # for you.

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I agree. I would refuse to accept a half-a$$ repair. If it is repaired to "factory new" like condition at least you can sell it easily enough. Its disappointing to heard Stihl's response to this issue.

I don't get it. Why is an oversized stud "half-a$$ed?" Properly installed, a larger-diameter stud would spread the same amount of stress over a larger area, i.e. be better than new.

johnpma said:

Update:
Stihl-"Thank you for the purchase and use of a STIHL MS 251 Chain Saw. I am sorry to hear of the bar stud issue you are having, STIHL has a 7 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, it is only during that time that you qualify for a refund or exchange on your saw. STIHL has used a polymer housing for years over a range of saws and STIHL is not having a bar stud issue. With a purchase date of 12/13/2013 your saw is still under warranty and can be repaired at any STIHL Dealer. If the dealer has any questions have them contact the Northeast STIHL Technical Service Department"

Where is the emoticon for the "international hand signal" (middle finger) Done with Stihl

The fix is to put an oversize stud in the pulled out hole!! Great so what in 6months I can do this all over again!!??? And then what when the year is up and it's out of warranty I can begin to pay to fix this POS saw No thanks!! I really thought they were a better company than this

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You bought a low end saw. I promise the low end saws from every other manufacturer are cheap, chinsy, and under engineered in their own special way.